Daring Bakers: Let's go nuts for Doughnuts - My Mini Baked Version!

Time for yet another exciting Daring Bakers Challenge and the lovely Lori of Butter Me Up has challenged us to make  her country, Canada's favourite - Doughnuts. Lori's recipe sources included Alton Brown, Nancy Silverton, Kate Neumann and Epicurious.I decided to stick to the cake doughnuts recipe, but turned the volume up by adding saffron & cardamom in the batter. I baked them in my mini doughnut maker instead of frying them (Gotto think about the poor waistline, at least when you have paid 150 quid for PT sessions at the gym). I did go a bit over-the-top with the toppings though! I slathered the baked doughnuts with melted white/dark chocolate, sprinkled the dark (chocolate) ones in edible gold dust and the white (chocolate) ones in colourful 100s & 1000s.

Baked Saffron-Cardamom Buttermilk Cake Doughnuts

Ingredients

Sour Cream - 1/4 cup

Flour  - 31/4 cup + more for dusting

Buttermilk - 3/4 cup

Sugar - 3/4 cup

Egg - 1

Egg Yolk - 2

Saffron - 1/2 tsp

Milk - 2 tsp

Cardamom Powder - 1/2 tsp

Salt - 1tsp

Vanilla Extract - 1 tsp

Instant Yeast -  1 tsp

Baking Powder - 1 tsp

Baking Soda - 1/2 tsp

Method:

In a pan warm up the sour cream & milk and add the saffron & cardamom, let it infuse for 10 min. Warm up the cream mixture again. Meanwhile place all the ingredients in a mixing bowl except buttermilk and eggs . Add the warm cream to this and pour the buttermilk, egg, yolks. Knead till everything comes together to a sticky dough.  Using enough plain flour, shape them into mini doughnuts. Pre-heat the mini doughnut maker and slightly grease the moulds with oil. Place the dough into the mould, cover the lid and let them bake for 5-8 min or until done. Repeat until you have finished all the dough. Place them on a wire rack to cool.

For white chocolate topping: Melt 50 gms of chocolate in a microwave for 30sec-1 min. Using the back of spoon smear the chocolate and sprinkle liberally with 100s and 1000s.

For Dark Chocolate Topping: Melt 50 gms of dark chocolate in a microwave for 30s- 1min. Using the back of a spoon smear the chocolate and sprinkle edible gold dust.

Verdict: It was such a fun challenge and thanks to Lori I have managed to make doughnuts at home! The batter itself is a very simple recipe with much scope to add pretty much whatever flavour you fancy. I loved the subtle taste of cardamom and the colour the saffron gave the batter.

Raspberry Pinkarons for Pinktober

It's MacTweets time again and this month officially being the Breast Cancer Awareness month, Jamie and Deeba the MacTweets Duo asked us to create Macarons in vivid shades of pink. So here it is, my Pink Raspberry Creation aptly called "Pinkarons".

Apparently, one in nine women develop breast cancer at some point in their life. Finding breast cancer at an early stage can make a difference and so it is important for women to be aware and lookout for the changes.

Raspberry Pinkarons
Ingredients
Egg whites - 30gms(aged for 2 days)
Caster Sugar - 20 gms
Powdered Sugar - 55gms
Ground Almonds - 30gms
Freeze dries Rapsberries powder - 1/2 tsp
Cream of Tartar - a pinch
Egg Whites Powder - a pinch
Salt - a pinch
Pink food colour - a few drops
Method:

Prepare the stencil for macarons on a parchment paper and place it on a baking tray. Place another sheet of greaseproof paper on top of this. In a processor, process the almonds along with the colour and freeze dried raspberries until fine. Sieve this and powdered sugar into a bowl. Whisk the egg whites until frothy, adding the whites powder, salt and cream of tartar. Gradually, adding the caster sugar a tbsp at a time, whip them until they form peaks.The texture should be similar to hair mousse, not too dry. Dot some of this onto the sides of parchment so that they stay intact.Slowly add the whites to the almond mixture in two to three addition, gently folding the mixture. The mixture when lifted should fall back in ribbons. Fill a pastry bag with this mixture and pipe them onto the grease-proof paper. Leave them to form a skin for about 30-40 minutes. Meanwhile pre-heat the oven at 150C. Bake the shells for about 12-15 minutes depending on the size. Gently lift the baked shells and transfer them to cooling rack. Pipe the cooled shells with a filling of your choice and sandwich them. 

Pink Raspberry White Chocolate Ganache
Ingredients
White chocolate - 50 gms
Double Cream - 1/4 cup
Vanilla Icing Sugar - 1 tbsp
Freeze dried Raspberry Powder - 1/2 tsp
Melt the white chocolate in a double boiler or microwave until smooth and glossy. Whip the cream with vanilla sugar and freeze dried raspberry powder until soft peaks are formed. Pour the cooled melted chocolate and whisk until smooth. Fill a pastry bag with this and pipe onto cooled macaroon shells.

Verdict: Although I did play around a bit with the recipe, the Macs turned out perfect with perfect feet. I was just praying and standing next to the oven for the first few minutes and the moment I saw happy feet, tweeted  Deeba & Jamie about it, my Mac Experts. Going with the pink theme, I made a white chocolate ganache the unusual way to cut standing time and added raspberry powder to it. This is probably the best ever chocolate ganache and couldn't help licking it as I was piping the shells ;-). Thanks to mactweets blog for a wonderful theme and I so enjoyed making these babies!

Very-Berry-Cruncy-Nutty Granola

It has been a very busy and eventful past few weeks. My kid sister has started work at a big firm and I couldn't be happier. I still remember my little sister wearing her school uniform, carrying a big bag on her shoulders unaware of what the corporate world is, while I was all grown up with my head buried inside my comp, occasionally looking at her feeling jealous of her carefree life. I'm glad that she has decided to still keep updating and studying whilst working which is one thing I failed to do and regret till date.

I made this granola a while back but didn't get around to post it! This has made my life easier and I love snacking on it while watching tele, reading a book or simply enjoying it with my cuppa. I always have a jar of this at home and at 'S's workplace. I have used freeze dried berries, loads of nuts, oats, barley, millet, rye flakes and some indulgence through chocolate.

Ingredients
300-400 gms Mixed Flakes
200 gms Mixed Freeze-dried Berries (strawberries,pineapple,blueberries,blackberries,redcurrants,blackcurrants)
200 gms Mixed Nuts (flaked almonds,pistachios,pecans)
1 tsp Cinnamon
30 gms Dessicated Coconut
100 gms Mixed Seeds (sunflower,pumpkin,flaxseed, sesame)
100 gms Orange Blossom Honey
100 gms Maple Syrup (You could use all honey)
3-4 Tbsp Oil
100 gms Mixed dry fruits (golden raisins, chilean flame raisins, cranberries, sweet morello & bing  cherries, golden inca berries,goji berries)
Vanilla Bean scrapped from a pod
Pinch Sea Salt
150 gms Dark Chocolate (70%) I have used Lindt with Sea Salt & Lint Orange
Method:

Mix all the ingredients except chocolate and freeze dried berries in a bowl. Melt oil, honey, maple syrup along with vanilla bean and pour over the the granola mixture. Bake for about 1 hour at 150C in a pre-heated oven. Remove the mixture and stir in the chopped chocolate and freeze dried berries. Allow to cool completely before storing in jars. Keeps well for a month if it lasts that long!

Carrot-Pecan-Coconut Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

I have been making carrot cakes for a very long time now and each time I bake them, I have tried to customize it to the perfect taste I love. You can find a lot of recipes online, but to be honest, they are either too oily or too sweet. This time a friend of mine wanted these for a party at her place and after successfully baking two unsuccessful recipes, I ended up making these cupcakes and they were perfect! I have added pecans instead of the traditional walnuts (somehow "S" doesn't like the oily taste walnuts have), made them with vanilla-orange-lemon sugar (for more flavour), used a bit of fresh grated ginger and instead of pineapple, this time I used dessicated coconut. For the cream cheese frosting I used a splash of cream along with butter and cream cheese. I sometimes omit the cream cheese totally and use mascarpone instead. I would say this icing is to die for, so its worth taking the extra effort of making it. I also made some marzipan carrots to decorate it just for fun. I was amazed at how friends at the party thought I have used blanched baby carrots!

Carrot-Pecan-Coconut Cupcakes (Makes 12 Med size)

Ingredients

Plain Flour - 150g

*Sugar - 150g (or light brown sugar)

Grated Carrots - 150g

Oil - 150ml

Baking Powder - 1/2 tsp

Baking Soda - 1/2 tsp

Ground Cinnamon - 1/2 tsp

Ground Clove - 1/4 tsp

Mixed Spice - 1/4 tsp

Grated Ginger - 1 tsp

Vanilla Extract - 1 tsp

Raisins - 25g

Dessicated Coconut - 50g

Pecans chopped - 75g

Eggs - 2

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180C. Beat the eggs and sugar until pale. Add oil, Vanilla extract and beat for a minute or two. Stir in the grated carrots and  ginger, beat well. Sift the dry ingredients twice and toss the nuts, raisins and coconut. Slowly add the dry ingredients in three goes into the wet and fold until well incorporated. Divide the mixture into muffin tins, lined with paper cases, until 3/4 full. Bake for about 20-25 min or until skewer inserted in the centre comes off clean. Allow to cool on a wire rack completely before icing.

For the Cream Cheese Icing

Cream Cheese - 200g

Soft unsalted Butter - 50g

Fresh Cream - 60ml 

Icing Sugar - 150g (use upto 300g if you need sweeter icing)

Vanilla Extract - 1tsp

Method:

Beat the butter and sugar until light (you will be covered in icing sugar so try adding a little at a time). Add the cream cheese, vanilla extract and fresh cream and beat slowly till peaks form. Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a large star nozzle and pipe as desired over the cooled cupcakes. Decorate with marzipan carrots or pecans. This can be stored in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days, but do bring it to room temperature before serving to enjoy the luscious smooth icing.

*To make the vanilla-lemon-orange sugar, whizz the zest of a lemon and orange in a mixer and mix with the required quantity of vanilla sugar. Use immediately or else might form lumps. 

Verdict: This is one of those cakes that never lasts in my house. Absolute favourite of "S"s, he even wanted this for his birthday. This has even managed to convert a friend who is a complete chocolate cake lover. If you cant be bothered to make the icing just the warm slice of cake with coffee or a scoop of vanilla ice-cream on the side is absolute heaven. But the gorgeous creamy icing really compliments the cake.

Daring Bakers: September 2010 Challenge: Get Creative: Decorated Sugar Cookies

This month's Daring Baker's challenge was to be creative with sugar cookies. The lovely Mandy from What the Fruitcake was the hostess this month and challenged all the creative minds to make a straightforward sugar cookies recipes by Peggy Porschen and decorate it with home-made or shop bought royal icing.

September has been a crazy month for me. Among many, I finally managed to join the Course I wanted study, got the car I fell in love with, started baking cakes for clients instead of just baking random stuff for friends and so on! So, to summarize my crazy time this month I have made a melange of cookies in heart, flower and round shapes, decorated them with love themes,  flowers and fancy designs. I baked these cookies on Thursday while I was baking carrot & black forest cake for a friend, getting a 3 course meal ready for a dinner with another set of friends and car hunting. On Friday I caught the Flu bug and after initially dropping the idea of royal icing I decided to take up the challenge and got it done. I simply could not give up the DB challenge. If the lines are not straight and lack finesse blame my shaky hands ;-).
I have used dessicated coconut and vanilla in the cookie dough to give them more flavour and have used shop-bought royal icing in different colours to complete the challenge.

Sugar Cookies (slightly adapted from Peggy Porschen's recipe)

Ingredients

200g Unsalted Butter

370g Plain Flour sifted

30g Dessicated Coconut

200g Caster Sugar

1 Large Egg

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

Method:

Cream the butter and sugar until pale. Add the vanilla extract, coconut, egg and beat till well combined. Add the flour and beat on low till the mixture comes together. On a floured board knead slightly till it forms a ball of dough. Roll this out between parchment paper and refrigerate for up to 1 hour. Using a cookie cutter cut out desired patterns and place on a baking tray. Chill them for another 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 180C. Bake the cookies until the edges are a golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack and let them cool. Once completely cool frost the cookies or store them in an air-tight container for up to a month.

Royal Icing:

315g – 375g Icing / Confectioner’s Sugar, unsifted

2 Large Egg Whites

2 tsp Lemon Juice

Method:

Beat egg whites with lemon juice until combined.

Tip: It’s important that the bowls/spoons/spatulas and beaters you use are thoroughly cleaned and grease free.

Sift the icing sugar to remove lumps and add it to the egg whites.

Beat on low until combined and smooth.

Use immediately or keep in an airtight container.

Tip: Royal Icing starts to harden as soon as it’s in contact with air so make sure to cover containers with plastic wrap while not in use.

Decorating Your Cookies: Flooding

“Flooding” a cookie is a technique used when covering a cookie with Royal Icing. You outline the area you want to flood which helps create a dam.Then fill or flood inside the area you’ve outlined.

Decorating Your Cookies: Royal Icing

The most important thing when it comes to decorating with Royal Icing is the consistency.

There are two ways of flooding your cookies. Some like to do the outline with a thicker icing and then flood with a thinner icing. Some like to use the same icing to do both which saves time and you don’t have to have two different piping bags for each colour you’re using.

The Same Consistency Method

Consistency:

Mix your royal icing according to the recipe/instructions. Drag a knife through the surface of the Royal Icing and count to 10. If the surface becomes smooth between 5 & 10 seconds, the icing is at the correct consistency.

Tip: If your icing is too thick, thin it by adding a few drops of water. Mix, do the 10 second test, then if it’s still too thick, add a few more drops of water, repeat, etc. To thicken your icing, add small amounts of icing sugar until thick enough for the 10 second test

Two Different Consistencies Method

Consistency:

Mix your royal icing according to the recipe/instructions.

Separate into 2 different bowls, one lot of icing for outlining, the other for flooding.

For the outlining icing, drag a knife through the surface of the Royal Icing.

If the surface becomes smooth at around 10 seconds, the icing is at the correct consistency.

Tip: If your icing is too thick, thin it by adding a few drops of water. Mix, count to 10 seconds, then if it’s still too thick, add a few more drops of water, repeat. To thicken your icing, add small amounts of icing sugar until thick enough for the 10 second test.

For the flooding/filling icing, drag a knife through the surface of the Royal Icing.

If the surface becomes smooth at around 3-4 seconds, the icing is at the correct consistency.Tip: If your icing is too thick, thin it by adding a few drops of water. Mix, count to 3-4 seconds, then if it’s still too thick, add a few more drops of water, repeat, etc.

Tip: To thicken your icing, add small amounts of icing sugar until thick enough for the 3-4 second test.

Packaging and Storing

Once fully decorated, allow cookies to dry for 24 hours in a cool and dry area. Stack cookies in an airtight container, from largest cookies at the bottom, to smallest and more intricate at the top, with parchment or wax free paper in between the layers. Store in a cool and dry area with the container’s lid firmly sealed. Will last for about a month if stored this way.

Thanks for hosting such a beautiful challenge this month Mandy. I don't think I have ever bothered to decorate cookies like this ever (maybe once drizzled melted choc on chocolate cookies). I am definitely making these again as Halloween and Christmas treats for friends. They are easy to make, fun to decorate and will melt the strongest of hearts.